GHEI Launches World Malaria Day!

A record number of attendees turned out for GHEI's 2-day World Malaria Day event, for what some community members called "one of the best GHEI outreaches ever!" An estimated 500 people crowded the Humjibre Community Centre on the evening of April 25th for a lively, interactive event facilitated by Aggie Obeng and Mensah Gyapong, GHEI's newly promoted Health Program Assistants.

Following a review of GHEI's picture-based malaria flip book, Aggie and Mensah invited the crowd to participate in bednet hanging demonstrations, like the one pictured on the left. Here, a mother demonstrates how she would put her children to bed under a bednet, including tucking the net into the mattress to prevent mosquitoes from entering. Aggie then posed some discussion questions, like "Who should sleep under a bednet?" and "What should you do if your bednet is torn?" and audience members eagerly rushed the microphone to give their responses.

After the discussion, the ever-popular GHEI-produced film United Against Malaria, directed and produced by film-maker Laconia Koerner and featuring the Humjibre CHWs, was shown. The health team then debuted a documentary short about GHEI produced by Fernando Sapelli and the People of Change project. Cheers and giggles rippled through the crowd as they viewed shots of the familiar people and places of their hometown. Community leaders beamed with admiration at seeing themselves on the big screen.

On the heels of this success, the health team repeated the outreach at the nearby village of Soroano 2 days later, where a record 300 Soroano community members attended the event (roughly 1/3 of the community). By the time the film started, it was standing room only, with people crowding the windows and doorways of the venue to try and get a peak. "I think everyone really responded to the participatory aspects of this outreach," commented GHEI Education Program Coordinator, Jen Artibello, "having audience members demonstrate proper bednet usage in front of their peers really seemed to engage people." Other attendees credited the film showing: "Ghanaians love films! Anything that includes a film-showing is sure to be a success!"

--Natalie Rich, GHEI Communications Director

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